Tyler Adams Back and At His Best 🇺🇸

🗣 "Tyler has been always (talkative). He's a captain with the national team. Even in the trainings, he’s going to be arguing. If he’s losing, he's not gonna be happy. He will be demanding with the others. And this is a very good thing to have in the team.”

The above quote is from Bournemouth manager Andoni Iraola, when asked about Tyler Adams’ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 leadership qualities just after Tyler’s first start of the season Saturday against Everton. The 25-year-old from Wappingers Falls, N.Y. went the full 90 in the Cherries’ 2-1 win, and was named Player of the Match. Heat maps that wouldn’t look out of place at a Jackson Pollock exhibit — paint sprayed across the entire canvas — will do that for a player.

So is it safe to say that Adams is back? Well, based on the fact that he didn’t come off the bench in Bournemouth’s 1-0 win over Palace on Tuesday, it could be a case of the USMNT midfielder still working his way back to full-full fitness. But for a player as focused, vocal, and intense as Tyler, it would seem that he’s going to be tough to keep off the pitch for long.

"He wants to go for all the balls,” continued Iraola. “He's very instinctive and he wants to cover a lot."

Here’s to hoping he gets the chance to continue to provide cover in the Cherries’ next match: a visit to Luton Town on Saturday.

Elsewhere in England …

Four USMNTers were at the City Ground on Tuesday, as Nottingham Forest beat Fulham 3-1 in the most recent Premier League Bowl. Highlights of the match included: Antonee Robinson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (26; Liverpool, ENG) playing his 12th straight complete game for Fulhamerica; and Gio Reyna 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 subbing on in the 77th minute for the Tricky Trees, meaning in the last week the 21-year-old from Bedford, N.Y. has seen more playing time (45 minutes) than he had the entire two months prior (41). Tim Ream 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (36; St. Louis, MO) and Matt Turner 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (29; Park Ridge, NJ) did not see any action, although Matty T showed he’s a dawg who’s always up for a dawgfight, after getting a yellow card for barking at the ref from the bench. 👍👏😀

In the Championship, Haji Wright 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (26; Los Angeles, CA) made it five goals in his last six games for Coventry City, popping in a far-post worm-burner (Watch) in the Sky Blues’ 3-1 win at Huddersfield Town on Friday. Not to be outdone, Josh Sargent 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; O’Fallon, MO) made it four in his last six with a lovely little set-piece first-timer (Watch) in Norwich City’s 2-1 win over Plymouth Argyle on Friday. And then Duane Holmes 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (29; Columbus, GA) completed the end-of-week Americans Abroad Hat Trick by driving one home from close range (Watch) in Preston North End’s 3-0 win over Rotherham United. Good Friday, indeed.

Balogun Brace Built by Extra Train Rides, Extra Training:

We at ASU could not be any happier for Folarin Balogun 🇫🇷 (22; London, ENG), after the USMNT striker scored his seventh and eighth goals of the season (Watch) as a sub in Monaco’s 5-2 win at Metz on Saturday. The off-the-bench brace was the first by an American Abroad in Europe’s Top 5 leagues since Charlies Davies did the same for Sochaux in 2009.

The current campaign has been a bit of a struggle for the former Arsenal forward, whose summer arrival with the French club was met with lofty expectations after joining for $44 million on the heels of 22 goals for Reims in Ligue 1 in 2022-23. But after scoring three goals in his first five games for Monaco, Balo has been in and out of the starting lineup for Les Rouge et Blanc, only scoring three times since October 7 before his brace over the weekend.

While his goal-scoring struggles have been front and center for all to see, something that had been kept behind the scenes until now was the hard work and sacrifice Balogun originally put in to become a high-level finisher. Speaking to the Inside Track podcast, individual instructor Saul Isaksson-Hurst talked about how Balogun, then with Arsenal, would take the train from London to France on his off days to get extra one-on-one training with the former Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs academy coach.

“Flo would be doing a finishing session at Arsenal, but there would be six or seven other players there and it may not be specifically on what he needs to work on,” said Isaksson-Hurst. “Flo used to come back on the Eurostar on his days off to do sessions and then go back. He’s another really committed young pro.”

Here’s to hoping the hard work done years ago continues to pay dividends for one of America’s finest.

News and Notes:

• After his assist against Lazio in Juventus’ 2-0 Coppa Italia win on Tuesday (Watch), it’s now 10 dimes in all comps for Weston McKennie 🇮🇹 (25; Little Elm, TX) this season. Half of these have been to Dusan Vlahovic, so naturally Wes gave him a friendly shout-out on IG.

• Malik Tillman 🇳🇱 (21; Nürnberg, GER) had an assist (Watch) — his 11th of the season — in PSV’s 2-0 win at Excelsior on Tuesday. The victory comes on the heels of their first league loss of the season on Saturday, a 3-1 defeat at NEC Nijmegen, which ended a remarkable 26-match undefeated streak to open their Eredivisie campaign.

• Brenden Aaronson 🇩🇪 (23; Medford, NJ) got the start and played 65 minutes in Union Berlin’s scoreless draw at Frankfurt on Saturday. The Iron Ones are now undefeated in Aaronson’s last three starts.

• Alex Zendejas 🇲🇽 (26; El Paso, TX) scored his fifth in his last six games for Club America (Watch) in a 4-0 win at New England Revolution Tuesday in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

• Gianluca Busio 🇮🇹 (21; Greensboro, NC) scored his sixth goal of the season for Venezia (Watch) in their 3-2 loss at Reggiana Monday. The Canal Boys are now one point out of the Serie B automatic promotion spots with seven matches to play.

• In Spain’s second tier, Konrad de la Fuente 🇪🇸 (22; Barcelona, ESP) bagged a brace (Watch) in Eibar’s 5-1 win over Eldense on Sunday. Los Armeros are in second place — hence, in the automatic promotion spots — with nine matches to go in LaLiga2.

Parting Shots:

Massive congrats to teen striker Joel Imasuen 🇩🇪 for making his Werder Bremen first-team debut in the Green-Whites’ 2-0 loss to Wolfsburg on Sunday. The 19-year-old born in Atlanta, Ga. came on in the 89th minute of the match, having earned his place in the senior squad thanks to 27 goals in 21 matches for Werder Bremen II this season. Imasuen played with Hertha Berlin from 2016-21, then spent a season with Viktoria 1889 Berlin before joining Werder Bremen in 2022.